echoing monday's statements by president obama. >> if anybody resorts to these terrible weapons, i would expect an immediate reaction from the international community. >> woodruff: syria has denied any intention of using chemical weapons. russia, a key syrian ally, dismissed the intelligence reports as rumors. yesterday in istanbul, russian president vladimir putin said he understands turkey's concerns about border security, but he warned that deploying patriot missiles could raise fears of a wider conflict. meanwhile, inside syria intense fighting flared again near damascus today. amateur video showed government warplanes carrying out new arrayeds. the syrian capital has seen escalating violence in the last week as rebels try to close the noose on president bashar al assad's regime and the military tries to recapture lost ground. amid the fighting, the state news agency reported that rebel more tar fire killed nine students and a teacher at a school outside damascus today. the opposition also reported the incident but did not say who fired the mortar. meanwhile, there are meanwhile, the